“I saw him in the field as I headed out, and I know he saw me. He stopped working and straightened and just watched me go. I think he probably realized I’d tell someone what had happened and they’d come for him, so he packed up his truck and left.”
“Do you know where he went?” Magnus asked.
“I have no idea, and don’t care,” Allie said with a shrug.
Magnus hesitated, and then asked, “And what about you? What happened to you then?”
“I was put into the system and placed with a foster family. They helped me get a social insurance number and stuff.” She gave a laugh. “I was born at home and my birth was never registered so I had to prove I existed and was a Canadian, but they helped me with that.”
“And school?” he asked.
Allie grimaced, but she’d been honest up to now, so continued with that honesty. “My foster mother took me for testing to see where I should be placed in school. Fortunately, my mother was apparently a good teacher and my homeschooling turned out to be up to snuff. They put me in grade eleven with my peers, but I was a freak and didn’t really fit in.”
“You are not a freak,” he said at once, sounding upset.
Grinning, Allie leaned back and eyed him with disbelief before assuring him, “I am definitely a freak.” When he started to shake his head, she pointed out, “I’m an introvert, a computer geek, the mortal mother of a vampire, and almost half an hour ago I was a virgin at thirty-four. That’s a freak,” she assured him, and then added, “But I’m okay with that. We can’t all be Mrs. Brady. Besides, you guys are vampires, and that makes you all freaks too, so I’m in good company.”
“You just called me a freak,” he said with a combination of amusement and disbelief.
“Yes. I did,” she said unapologetically, and then shifted against him, sending another wave of passion through them both. “What are you going to do about it, mister?”
Magnus’s hands tightened on her hips to keep her from moving, and he growled, “Don’t tempt me. A half hour has not passed yet. Finish telling me about your life.”
Allie met his gaze briefly and then nodded and said bluntly, “I was socially inept and uncomfortable around other people, so I avoided them as much as possible. It gained me a reputation as a weirdo at school, but for the most part the other kids left me alone. I graduated and got a job as a janitor in an office building, working nights. It gave me enough money to live off and some extra to take computer courses at college. I made a few friends there, but not close ones. Mostly I worked, either at my janitorial job or on web design. Eventually my web design business did well enough that I could quit the night job. And then it did well enough that I was able to buy my own home.” She shrugged. “And that’s where I was when I met Stella. Working. Living. Alone.”
They were both silent for a moment, Allie because she had nothing else to say, and Magnus . . . Well, he appeared to be thinking, and some pretty serious thoughts, Allie decided as she took in his solemn expression and faraway gaze. Probably wondering how he had ended up with such a misfit for a life mate, she thought wryly, and then his eyes focused on her again and he said, “Look at your back.”
Allie raised her eyebrows, but then turned her head to peer at their reflection in the mirror again. She knew the scars were gone, had already seen that, and yet the sight of her unmarred back struck her anew. Dear God, there wasn’t even a slight dimple to hint that the scars had ever been there. Her back was as pure and untouched as a newborn baby’s. The thought made her recall Mabel’s words.
Well, this is like a rebirth. You’re going to go through a period of pain and suffering and come out immortal born.
“Immortal born,” she murmured.
“Yes.” Magnus met her gaze in their reflection. “You are immortal born. The nanos have removed the scars from your old life.” She saw his eyes drop to her, and then he caught her chin and turned her face so she would look at him as he said solemnly, “This is a new life for you, Allie. A new beginning. You do not